Farewell to Giampiero Maccioni, who died at the age of 82, a point of reference for the world of volunteering on the Island, for a long time president of the Sardinian association Trapianti – Vita Nuova dedicated to the heart surgeon Alessandro Ricchi.

The announcement on social media by Giuseppina Lorenzoni who continues her work, together with other volunteers: «Today is a sad day, very sad. Our honorary president Giampiero Maccioni has left us. We will feel more alone without him who was a founding member of our family and association, and a fiery president». A retired officer of the Italian Army (Folgore Division), Maccioni, originally from Iglesias, has always played a leading role in the field of social and health volunteering.

The new life

He was born twice. The second life had begun thanks to the heart of a 19-year-old boy. A providential transplant. The operation had been carried out by the team led by Alessandro Ricchi. An act of extraordinary generosity that had ensured Giampiero Maccioni a new life. He recounted the turning point in the book «Vi darò un cuore nuovo».

"I wanted to write it - he declared in an interview published in the magazine of the National Federation of Volunteer Associations of Liver Diseases and Transplants, of which he was president - to put down on paper the experience of a patient towards patients, family members and health workers who experience the suffering and joy of being resurrected to a new life with a transplant. I also wrote it to raise awareness, spread the culture of organ donation throughout the country and to start a series of conferences that have been held in Italy over the years. I wanted, with my experience, to reach as many people as possible and, naturally, all the volunteer associations in the donation and transplant sector. The message of organ donation is too important and still not adequately known".

Many remember him through social media. Thus Pino Argiolas, former president of the Prometeo association: «I believe that few people in Sardinia have promoted organ donation and transplants as Giampiero has done, doing a lot of promotion in schools and using sports, especially athletics as a vehicle for promoting donation».

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